Mom's Recipes and Other Fruits of My Childhood

My Mom has been teaching me how to make some of my favorite Korean dishes.
To start off this series, here is my latest craving...

JANGJORIM (to be eaten with rice and other banchan)

eye of round beef
boiled eggs
soy sauce
sugar
cloves of garlic

Bring to a boil chunks of the eye of round in water (more than enough to cover tops of pieces)
lower heat to simmer for 2 -3 hours or until water is half gone
skim the top of the water as you go.

Then:
add soy sauce to level where water began (Kikkoman preferable)
add approx half cup sugar
add approx 10 cloves of garlic
add peeled and boiled eggs whole

simmer for another hour til soup is back to half or to taste*

For dessert, try a Persimmon.

I prefer the Fuyu, which is crisp like an apple called "sweet persimmon." Tonight however, my Mom gave me one of two "big persimmons" that was harvested from our tree in the backyard. This was the Hachiya version which is big and red like a plump tomato with a similar soft peal away skin. It was amazingly sweet, soft, and juicy. I had to scoop it up with a spoon.


It's important you know there are two kinds of persimmons: the Fuyu, the kind you can eat right away, and the Hachiya, the kind you can't. If you bite into an unripe Hachiya persimmon, it is if you just drank six cups of extra strength tea. This astringent flavor is due to the high level of tannin in the fruit, and there is a good chance that you would never try a persimmon again because it tastes so bitter. This would be a shame because ripe persimmons have an exceptional flavor and provide us with important nutrients such as beta-carotene, Vitamin C and potassium.

-from Tony Tantillo.com

Oriental Medicine

I've just finished pack 13 of 40 medicinal herbal tea mixtures. In order to finish my full regiment before traveling Dec. 1, I'll have to triple up for a few days this week. It is still TBD whether there are recognizable effects of this medicine.

My Mom goes every year to boost her system and fight off the annual evil flu or cold. She says it has helped keep her healthy and avoid getting sick. Last year she missed her dose and feels her flu/colds so far have been due to this lapse. It is a common belief shared by many Koreans apparently, that an annual dose of this Oriental Medicine can "keep the doctor away." So, as my Mom made her appointment, I said I would take her there and she offered to get me a visit with the specialist. The man who decides what allies you and which tea you will need, met with us and took my pulse first.

I am apparently suffering from a lack of blood aka not great circulation, my respiratory system is weak, and my kidneys are not up to snuff. This all translated into $400 and a tea with the special antler powder, something my Mom's $300 mix did not need.

My sister is skeptical, as am I about how the diagnosis is reached and well we actually receive in our pouches. I will say, however, the packaging is done well. The office clean and seemingly homey with nature documentaries playing on a loop. The other thing is it is next door to a Korean Church. I'm sure a lot of business comes from connections there. The office also has those drawers that remind me of this photo I took in Beijing at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Similar methods and materials by run by a Korean.

I am always open to trying new things and believe anything can have power if you believe in it. So, this winter, as I am trying to build up my energy for this long hard winter ahead, I am trying this tea. It has a bitter smell and taste, but it smells familiar and reminds me of my Dad for some reason. And that makes it taste less bitter.

Something else about hope and trying to make sense of things...
I am reminded also of this machine I ran into in Hong Kong at the Peak. A little Roman Holiday in China. A replica that told fortunes. I have the read out somewhere, but it was in Chinese, so I was unable to dicier the message until I had my tutor in Beijing make sense of it for me. I only recall I wasn't so lucking in Love. Fine in the Fame and Fortune department. Well, C'est la vie! Can't have it all now, can we?

Halloween Madness

In Avondale Estates, GA Halloween is a close the street off and let the kids roam kinda town. The neighbors go all out and compete for Spirit Awards. Doug, my brother-in-law, installed a grave site, flying skeleton, smoke machine, and sound fx. He also lurked in the darkness in a gorilla costume and came alive to scare the too cool for school teens in their everyday street wear.


Theresa was a vampire princess.
If only I had seen this how to before working on Theresa!
But we did alright.



Noah was the Ghoast Rider. Doug did his make-up.
Yun was busy making a delicious soup and pizza for this little get together.

A little Halloween history:
My 2008 Pumpkin Design vs 2004 Pumpkin Design


Avondale Estates, GA 2008


Bushwick Brooklyn, 2004


Check out
Threadbanger: How to Make yourself into a Zombie
Make-up by our lovely Katie Pellegrino

Enlightenment Through Solitude (Winter in Beijing)

This winter I will embark on a new journey in China. The journey of "Enlightenment Through Solitude." The winters are brutal, so living a somewhat hermit lifestyle will help me get through some difficult things I have not dealt with fully. As part of my endurance project, I will continue to produce new work, writings, and make myself read some things I've been meaning to read.

Reading List for my "Enlightenment Through Solitude" experience in Beijing Winter 2008-09.

1) The King James Bible
2) American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau
3) Riding the Iron Rooster, Paul Theroux
4) No one belongs here more than you. Miranda July
5)

Friends suggestions:
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own (1929)


I also decided to get some books on tape. I like being read to and the sounds fill the space, making cold, quite, winter nights seem warm.
On my Audible list:
1) Anna Karenina (sorry Krista! its huge and ran out of packing space, but i really wanted to hear the story)
2) Malcolm Gladwell's new Outliers
3) David Sedaris' Naked & Holidays on Ice

I have a growing WISHLIST too! Lets hope I can download from there.


Reading for when I return:
The Plum in the Golden Vase (3/5 written) David Tod Roy's Translation (93, 01, 06)
Jin Ping Mei original English translation The Golden Lotus (1939), Clement Egerton



As with any great laborious journey, I will celebrate with some decadent beach vacation for the Chinese New Year, marking the end of a chapter. I am enlisting a crew to ensure help me celebrate.

Contact me for details.

ps
for those of you who have not received news of Henry and I's break up, Henry ended things with an "I'm not ready" and since I have found new inspiration and have a lot of gratitude for what seemed at first to be bad news. I am looking forward to taking a leap into my future with an new found eagerness to see what is next.


Don't be sad, it is afterall just another chapter. And in all fairness, I wouldn't have gotten to Beijing if it weren't for my interlude with Henry. I had compromised too much to be with him, hoping he might surprise me. Well, he just confirmed all my fears and I can confidently move forward without him.

Return to NYC (at least for now)

IF YOU ARE READING THIS,

first, thank you for caring;

second, come to Vol de Nuit 6 pm - 8 pm
Thursday for a reunion with me & Henry!

148 W 4th St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 982-3388


The tour home began in Beijing. I traveled to Shanghai, flew to Atlanta, drove to NYC, Newport RI, & Boston. Still reeling from the process.

Now Im getting my bearings, settling some business, and looking to take care of plans for the upcoming year.

Hope to catch up with friends while Im back, so please call me or email.
Lets make a date!

XXX
Su